"Yulice, doesn't that look strange no matter how you look at it?"
"Pardon?"
Inside the dark Chunghoe Castle.
Lily whispered quietly while looking at the Hero walking in front. They were currently descending a staircase that the Hero had discovered.
It was a passage the Hero had found earlier.
How he managed to find a passage that even Adel couldn't discover... The party members couldn't understand no matter how much they thought about it.
Of course, his explanation that he "found it by chance" was thoroughly ignored.
It wasn't just because of his curse.
It was because he had already shown too much for them to take his words at face value.
Being unusually knowledgeable about monsters, cleverly guiding them through paths, or finding strange passages like this one.
He was mainly making his presence known through his knowledge.
"How does he know things that even we don't know... This is one of the Four Heavenly Kings' castles. Valkan is the newest among them. These must be things not even written in ancient texts. How does he know all this?"
"..."
The Saintess nodded quietly to herself.
It was certainly strange.
What kind of life had he lived to possess such knowledge? He was like an onion—peeling away one layer only revealed another.
Even though she had seen the Hero's past, she hadn't been shown anything before he became the Hero.
She still knew very little about Luke.
What kind of life had he lived?
What beliefs did he hold, and in what environment did he grow up?
All of that remained a mystery.
Of course, she had a few guesses, but...
Since she couldn't ask, the Saintess could only suffer in silence.
Then Lily brought up an ominous speculation once again.
"Could he really be a spy for the Demon King's army?"
It was a theory that had come up countless times before.
She nodded to herself as if answering her own question.
"That's it. I'm sure of it. He must have been part of the Demon King's army at some point. How else would he know all these secrets?"
Lily looked around at the surrounding staircase as she spoke.
Her eyes were filled with suspicion as she looked at the Hero.
*This pattern again...*
The Saintess smiled bitterly. How many times had this theory come up?
She had seen it dozens of times in the past month alone; it was hard to imagine how many times he had been suspected during the past half year.
The Saintess decided to defend him a little.
"Didn't Luke say? That God told him."
God told him.
It was one of the lies Luke often used when he had difficulty explaining the source of his information. It was obviously false, but the Saintess decided to lend it some credibility.
"Come on, Yulice. Do you believe that? It's obviously a lie!"
"Well, maybe he really did hear it. After all, the Hero is as close to God as the Saintess... or perhaps even closer. It wouldn't be strange for him to hear God's words."
The Saintess continued.
"And anyway, all the information he's provided has been helpful, hasn't it?"
"W-well, that's true..."
Lily took a step back. She had no rebuttal.
Even though the source of the information was suspicious, it was true that the information itself had been helpful.
Though it made them uncomfortable, the party members had no choice but to listen to him.
"Yulice, you've... really changed."
"Pardon?"
As they walked for a while, Lily spoke to her again. The sudden comment made Yulice tilt her head in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you know. In the past, you used to suspect him with us, curse him, and try to uncover his identity. But lately, you've been defending him all the time."
"Ah, hahaha..."
The Saintess laughed awkwardly.
She was talking about before her regression. It was also a somewhat embarrassing past behavior. Even now, thinking about it made her feel sorry toward him.
"I just..."
Yulice looked at his figure walking ahead and opened her mouth.
"I decided to trust him. He is the Hero, after all."
"...Really? I still don't like him. His growth has been abnormally fast lately. He's even copying the others' techniques..."
Lily glared at Luke as she spoke.
"Just wait. I'll uncover his true identity someday. Then I'll find the real Hero."
"..."
The Saintess let out a small sigh.
*The Hero is right in front of you.*
Even though it was because of the curse, she couldn't help but feel frustrated.
Especially since the atmosphere hadn't been good lately.
Was it the combination of stress from the uncomfortable environment and the curse the Hero carried?
Lately, it felt like walking on thin ice.
Everyone's nerves were becoming a little sharper.
She felt that if someone crossed the line even slightly, the party members would surely fight among themselves.
*Sigh...*
The Saintess could only earnestly pray to God that such a thing wouldn't happen.
And that they could defeat the Insect King before then.
*
[You have entered Valkan's Library!]
"Wow! What is this?"
"An incredible amount of books..."
After descending all the stairs, mountains of books greeted us.
Perhaps for the sake of preserving the books, there wasn't even a single bug here.
"Wow, how long has it been since we've seen such a clean space?"
"I wouldn't call it clean... but compared to upstairs, it's heaven."
Camilla picked up one of the stacked books and frowned.
"But... the books themselves are a mess. Would it kill him to organize a little?"
What do you expect from the Insect King?
He's a guy who lives cozily with bugs in this filthy place. Expecting organization from someone like that?
It would be faster to wait for the world to end.
*Clap!*
As I was cursing him in my mind, I clapped my hands to focus the party members' attention.
This vast space, about the size of a mansion, was filled with books.
It would take considerable time to find what we wanted here. I didn't have time to deal with them.
"Come on, everyone, let's split up and look for anything that might be helpful. If we stick together, we won't be able to see everything even after a week."
Fortunately, no one opposed my suggestion this time.
Everyone had been thinking the same thing. That it would be better to split up this time.
Especially our team's mage, Lily, who welcomed it with open arms.
"For once, I like what you're saying. Great! Wow, how many books are there? I think there are even books that aren't in the Magic Tower!"
That's mages for you. They're all obsessed with knowledge.
Lily was no exception, it seemed.
Seeing this, Camilla said to the team members:
"Then let's all split up and meet again in 12 hours."
"I should do some research too, it's been a while."
Twelve hours.
That's enough time to sort through and read the books I want. I nodded and moved away from them.
*
The master of this castle.
A Dark Mage who had reached the pinnacle of Insect Arts, and the Demon King's loyal servant.
Insect King Valkan was obsessed with books.
He needed vast knowledge for developing new insects or researching rare monsters.
From anatomy, entomology, and magic studies to summoning rules, equivalent exchange, alchemy, and more...
Most of the knowledge and records he had accumulated over hundreds of years were piled up here.
I picked up a random book from the stacks around me and read the title.
"Cockroach Dissection Journal"
"The 5th Demon King VS Hero Battle"
"The Story of the Sun and Moon"
"About How I, a 'Lv1 Skeleton' Summoner, Turned Out to Be the Strongest... Volumes 1-12"
"...Hmm."
Of course, it wasn't just study books that were stacked here.
I explained it like that earlier, but to be honest, this place was more like a dumping ground.
All the books that Valkan had already read once or found boring were all piled up here.
As a result, most of the books stacked here were either useless or not of high quality.
But that's fine.
Even in a garbage dump, you can find a treasure or two if you look hard enough.
For me, this place was nothing short of a treasure trove.
"Magic Composition for Dummies - Basics"
"What Are the Four Elements?"
"How Not to Get Scammed in Summoning Arts"
"Holy Arts, About Its Principles - Part 1"
"Wind and Thunder Spear Art - Introduction"
See, there are already several useful ones.
As I said earlier, he was obsessed with knowledge.
And that "knowledge" wasn't limited to his own field.
He would frantically collect books on anything that caught his interest even slightly. As a result, this place became a vast repository of knowledge, shallow in depth but incredibly broad.
It was the perfect place for an ignorant novice with good physical abilities to learn.
Today, I will lay the foundation for my class here.
*Let's see, what would be good?*
I wandered around the books like someone on a shopping trip.
I needed to choose a profession that synergized well with my abilities. Many came to mind.
Paladin, Spearman, Magic Swordsman, and so on.
All of them would be more than adequate.
But there were some concerns.
First, the issue of difficulty.
The game had become too hard.
They were certainly good and stable professions, but could I save all four people and face the Demon King with just that... I couldn't help but shake my head.
After all, I had failed to save the heroines 999 times.
Going with the same build I always used would definitely result in failure.
Second, because of the quest reward.
The Insect Arts that could be obtained by defeating the Insect King.
This almost complete skill, as a result, didn't synergize well with most other skills.
And it was also Dark Magic, which was almost incompatible with most skills...
It was certainly a skill full of potential, but it also had many limitations.
So I walked for a long time, pondering.
What could there be?
Something that synergizes well with Regeneration and Authority of Sacrifice while also complementing Dark Magic...
"Huh?"
As I was walking for a while, a few books caught my eye.
"Bloodcraft."
"Pain Arts."
Suddenly, my eyes lit up.
Wait a minute, since it's come to this.
Maybe going down the Dark Mage tree wouldn't be a bad idea...?